Resource Library: Town Meeting Turnout and Engagement

Although sending by email or social media can be a helpful low-cost supplement, it won’t get to everyone. By sending a mailing to every postal customer you can greatly enhance your reach. This can be relatively easy to do through the USPS’s “Every Door Direct Mail” program.

Some towns send a short postcard, some a longer pamphlet. All aim to get more information directly in peoples’ hands before Town Meeting. Additionally, a simple QR code or link to your Town website can help connect people from the shorter mailing to video, audio, or more resources online.

Understanding how to be “neutral,” “objective,” or striking the appropriate “education/advocacy” balance in all language is important for Town Meeting. It’s also key to find appropriate ways to ensure the importance and/or urgency of any particular issue is communicated effectively to your community so that your community members feel compelled to show up and participate in the process.

In terms of understanding how to strike education/advocacy balances, there is no simple answer. There are specific carve-outs in state statute that don’t just enable, but require in certain instances, public bodies to provide their positions on issues, such as the Selectboard on Warrant Articles or Budget Committee on the budget. But on the other end there are widely known prohibitions against using taxpayer funded resources to forward political goals (such as to endorse candidates in an election). Unfortunately, there is grey area in between that is not well defined in state statute.

Because of the grey area, the importance of not running afoul of electioneering laws, and because this is a currently evolving field of law, we recommend that you consult with your municipal attorney and/or NHMA if you have any questions about how you communicate any particular issue, or what the boundaries actually are for elected or appointed officials in how they speak or write about an issue that is on the Warrant. We hope to provide more clarity about this in future versions of this handbook.

Takeaway: Directly send out information through the postal mail, and consider ways to share with your community why a matter is important or urgent and is in need of their consideration, and what the values/risks of it are, rather than telling them which way to vote. We recommend seeking legal advice for more specific questions or to help guide the creation of any new materials or programs.

Who has tried it?

We send a relatively inexpensive printed/mailed 12-page booklet containing the budget and warrant and, on the back, a checklist that residents can fill out with their planned votes. This is sent to every house a couple of weeks before Town Meeting.

Debra Doda, Chester NH Town Administrator

The voter guide is mailed out 10 days beforehand to give everyone the opportunity to call or email the Town. The voter guide also includes both of our school districts. The back page gives them kind of a cheat sheet. It lists the article # and a blank Y or N box they can fill out so that when they go to the polls (SB2) they can take it with them.

Naomi Bolton, Weare NH Town Administrator

We send out a 4th quarter mailing the end of the prior year giving people time to absorb and ask questions about issues on the Warrant.

Brigitte Codling, Haverhill NH Town Manager

In addition to creating the Warrant for Town Meeting, many towns also create explanatory statements if approved by the Selectboard. These are meant to inform the public in more accessible language.

You can distribute these statements or narratives in a variety of formats, such as mailings, the annual Town Report, working with your local TV station or radio station, or placing videos or written explanations on your website or social media. Consider developing content that you can share on multiple platforms to get the most out of it and reach as many people as possible.

Regardless of format, the “layman’s” explanation, narrative, or explanatory statement can lay out a short summary of the warrant article or include any key information that shouldn’t or can’t be included in the Warrant Article language itself, text which is often proscribed through state law.

There are several decisions to make in what you include and how you create these narratives, and care should be taken to consider the same balance of information discussed along with the mailings on the previous page. Important considerations you may want to include:

• A summary of the warrant article, including for routine budget articles.
• The reason it’s being considered. A bond article may be in response to a bridge that washed out from flooding, or a collective bargaining contract from an expired contract, or a zoning amendment from a series of public meetings about housing issues. Providing the reason why something is being considered may help people have more context about it.
• Stakeholders who have been involved. If different Town entities or community groups were included, it may be worthwhile to identify them and identify if and where the issue was discussed, for example, if a zoning issue was discussed in a series of public master plan committee meetings. Benefits or goals. What is this Warrant Article meant to accomplish?
• Identifying the goals or benefit is important so that someone may understand why they are being asked to consider it.
• Risks or costs. If the Warrant Article comes with certain risks or potential downsides, and if there are costs or potential costs involved, these need to be spelled out.

Some towns have used a table to show pros/cons or similar information as it it may help keep the information organized and make sure they aren’t communicating only one side of an issue. And some use a table to show how different costs of different Warrant Articles are paid for by taxpayers of different home sizes so people can understand their individual impact and the costs better.

If you imagine what someone who has never been to Town Meeting or never read the Warrant Article might need to know at the most basic level (including referring people to longer reports, meeting videos, minutes, etc), you can start to picture what information might be helpful to include in the narrative. By doing so, you may help inform more people as well as make attending and participating in Town Meeting more accessible for people who haven’t done so before. Several samples are included in the last section, but this is a great chance to engage or enlist community stakeholders to help advise you and/or the Selectboard how to write the most helpful explanations!

Takeaway: Provide a balanced narrative summary that helps explain Warrant Articles to all people, including those who regularly attend Town Meeting and anyone who may be attending for the first time.

Who has tried it?

We send a mailer with the complete Warrant and the less “legalese” Narratives. We make it a point to stick to factual information. It costs money but it’s worth it to help inform.

Heidi Carlson, Fremont NH Town Administrator

Although some pick up the mailing, we send the Warrant and Narrative to all residents. Our community really likes that.

Kim Kleiner, Litchfield NH Town Administrator

Although the practice seems to have fallen off in some communities over the years, many have reported that finding a way to ensure that childcare services are available during Town Meeting when there may be a greater demand on limited community resources may help to boost turnout. Data exists that supports these claims, and additionally that it is historically shown to help enable greater participation among women. There are several different ways you may want to consider thinking about this:

Passive coordinating. Sometimes this can be as simple as engaging or re-engaging nonprofits that are or have been active in your community. Some towns reported working with organizations like the YMCA who may provide the service directly, and some service organizations, such as Rotary, that might help connect providers to those in need. This approach we’re calling passive, as it only requires the Town to get the process moving and advertise it, but not be much more involved than that.

Active coordinating. Some towns go a step further and provide resources, such as an email list or website, to allow people to submit information that may get routed to local social service or nonprofit organizations. Some towns may offer need-based subsidies for it as well.

Providing. Some towns provide childcare services directly. This could be finding and hiring people to go to a resident’s home, but more often, it’s setting up a location, often near where Town Meeting is taking place, to staff childcare services for the duration of the meeting. Although some don’t use this service, because it requires transportation kids back home, depending on the age of the children and other factors, some towns report this being highly valuable to their community members. Because the care is centralized in one place, the cost is reduced. This can be the most complex to do, and may come with costs or legal risks, which you should double check.

Takeaway: Whichever format you are thinking about, consider how doing one of the above may help bring even a few more people out to the meeting who otherwise couldn’t attend. You can consider surveying people about it, just remember not to only survey people who already come to Town Meeting.

Who has tried it?

When I worked in Stoneham, MA, we worked with the YMCA to provide childcare services. It really helped, especially for young families, to be able to attend Town Meeting.

Eric Duffy, Woodstock VT Municipal Manager

In both Sanbonton and Moultonborough the parents and school worked together to provide daycare during Town Meeting. It boosted attendance and was very well received by our community.

Charles Smith, Moultonborough NH Town Administrator

Offering child care can measurably improve town meeting attendance, especially among women. It’s important to publicize it widely, and best to offer it consistently over time so that families come to understand that they can depend on it.

Susan Clark, Middlesex Vermont Moderator and co-author of All Those In Favor: Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community

One of the only things we recommend, per guidance from the NH Secretary of State, is to avoid calling the meeting a ‘deliberative session’ unless you are an SB2 town. A few points to consider:

Timing. Although it may be valuable to have an informational session right before Town Meeting in addition to any public hearings/meetings required (Calendar and requirements from NHMA), you may consider having something even earlier related to the budget or other warrant articles so you have time to invite feedback and make changes. Recording a video explanation or group discussion may allow you to provide the content ahead of time so the public can engage on their schedule. Facilitation. Do you have a trusted facilitator or community leader? There are pros/cons to having the Town government host it, versus a nonprofit organization, versus a community leader. You may consider asking your Town Moderator for advice and/or to help host or facilitate it.

Format. There are many to consider, each with pros/cons that will change over time. For example:

• Presentations can sometimes be helpful, but often are too boring for most people, and don’t allow interactive discussion or individualized questions/answers for those who have them.
• Open houses can be valuable. This is setting an open time period, say six hours, staffing booths or tables, maybe providing handouts, and allowing community members to circulate and ask questions and engage in more in-depth discussion (as well as meet more stakeholders).
• Facilitated groups. You may consider gathering in a larger group, breaking into smaller groups with facilitators and note takers, and then re-convening the larger group to share our questions, concerns and reactions from each smaller group.

Representation. If this meeting has a poor turnout or representation, did it really add value? Consider how you will you get more people, or a wider range of people to participate. How will this impact who shows up and how they show up on Town Meeting day? Consider the balance between getting people engaged ahead of time, but not overburdening them with too many meetings.

Remember: Anytime you have a quorum of a public body in the same place, including if they are not “meeting” but each member is attending an open house or workshop, you still need to notice the meeting and follow requirements laid out in RSA 91-A.

Takeaway. All New Hampshire towns are allowed to host information sessions before Town Meeting.

Who has tried it?

Before our Town Meeting, we have a meeting where we discuss the budget and where the community can meet the candidates. This helps inform community members.

John Haverstock, Hartford VT Town Manager

I’ve seen success where communities work through complex and nuanced issues, usually related to housing or the Master Plan, by hosting or facilitating more small group interactive discussions. Instead of making people sit through long and sometimes boring presentations (no offense to myself or others), this gives people a chance to engage directly with officials and staff, meet other community members, and really learn and interact about what’s happening. We have such great conversation in those settings that we’re thinking about piloting an expansion of similar conversations prior to Town Meeting in the future.

Alex Torpey, Hanover NH Town Manager

Town Meeting Handbook Draft 1-21

Part of this is through culture setting by local officials, sometimes working with local community groups, in providing a welcoming and respectful place in which to discuss important issues throughout the year. The more inclusive the process is regularly, the more likely Town Meeting will be respectful, engaging, and constructive. Part of this comes at Town Meeting from the Moderator, in opening up the meeting, setting the tone, and by facilitating the discussion and votes effectively.

Additionally, part of Town Meeting’s history is as an annual or semi-annual gathering of small communities to see each other, share in food or other activities, and build bonds.

Civic Invocation. Some towns have a community leader, a recently turned 18-year-old voting for the first time, or recently naturalized citizen read some sort of statement or passage that sets the tone for the meeting, reminding people of the privilege to live in such a direct democracy, how much love we have for our community and each other, or related themes. We include several samples at the end.

Moderator’s Role. Beyond respected and involved community members, the moderator is probably the most key individual person setting tone and culture at Town Meeting. There are a wide range of resources available about and for Town Moderators that are included at the end of this handbook.

Community Awards. Some communities recognize employees, volunteers, or community leaders during Town Meeting. Some believe that doing so upfront may also help improve the tone of Town Meeting by sharing stories of selfless community members or volunteers, or long-serving and well-respected employees. Alternatively, this and other things can be done in the middle or the end of the meeting.

Food. Many communities historically have eaten food together at the start or before Town Meeting. It may be valuable to partner with a local organization if considering this. You can provide the ability for people to bring or share food open to the general public without violating Electioneering or other related laws (though you should always check a new program with NHMA or your municipal attorney).

Community Groups. Some communities will invite outside organizations to participate in Town Meeting. This can range from a young Eagle Scout presenting on a project, to allowing nonprofits to setup “tabling” in or near Town Meeting. Not only can inviting organizations be a way to bring more people out, but it can reinforce Town Meeting as a true community hub, and provide opportunities for people to learn or get involved with other critical stakeholders or activities in the community.

Takeaway: Finding ways to create a welcoming space may not only help increase interest in attendance at Town Meeting, but set a positive, constructive tone during the meeting itself.

Who has tried it?

Not only is it important to honor leaders and those beloved in our community but doing so, and publicizing it ahead of time, may help bring more people out to the meetings.

Todd Selig, Durham NH Town Administrator

It’s always fun to see our boards/committees in a room together because of the cross communication and idea generation that takes place.

Karen Hambleton, Bradford NH Town Administrator

Newbury has a ham and bean dinner prepared by the Newbury Beautification Committee. Residents gather, share a dinner provided by volunteers, and then sit back and relax for Town Meeting which takes place at Sunapee Mountain. Sharing a meal, residents start out in a grateful mood, reminded of how wonderful their town is and thankful for the generous spirit of their neighbors.

Diane Ricciardelli, Town Administrator, Newbury, NH

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